Method of forming track shoes



April 14, 1936. J, HEASLET 2,037,415

METHOD OF FORMING TRACK SHOES Filed Jan. 22, 1951 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 1936- .1. G. HEAsLE-r 2,037,415

METHOD OF FORMING TRACK SHO ES Filed Jan. 22, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNE Patented Apr. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENTTOFFICE to The Cleveland Tractor Company, Cleveland,

Application January 22, 1931, Serial No. 510,539

11 Claims. (Cl. 29--148.3)

1 My invention relates to track laying tractors and more particularly to a method of forming track shoes. I

Over a long period of time and with large expenditures of. money in an attempt to develop track laying tractors that would be commercially economical in competition with wheel type tractors, it has been found that the track shoes are responsible for the high initial cost as well as that of repairs; and for this reason diligent and earnest experiments have been made in order to develop a track shoe that would be sturdy and of low initial cost and would give long life, commensurate with the life of the tractor itself.

It has been common practice in the past to make track shoes for track laying tractors either by casting the same in one piece or by forging the rails independently of the shoe plate and rolling the shoe plate to size and then bolting the said shoe plate to the rails rigidly in place in order to provide a unitary shoe structure. The cast shoe does not have the necessary metallic properties to give long life for abusive service which thetrack laying tractors are subject to; while the three-piece shoe consisting of forged rails and rolled shoe plate with the same bolted securely to the rails is expensive to manufacture and assembleand not satisfactory in service.

Heretofore, it has been impossible to forge a track shoe in one piece, due mainly to the fact that many projections and apertures are necessary on and in the rails of the shoe. The projections are necessary in order to give larger bearing surfaces for the connecting pins as well as to form a wide track surface on the upper run of the rail, and. the apertures in the web of the rails permit the ejection of mud and like substances. So far as it is known it has been impossible to forge a completed and finished track shoe, because the shoe could not be removed from the die without distorting the rails or shoe plate. It is the purpose of my invention to produce a one-piece forged track shoe including rails and shoe plates with the necessary protruding parts and apertures.

Another object of my invention is to forge and mechanically shape a track shoe for track laying tractors from a single blank of metal so that the shoe is ready for assembly after leaving the forge shop.

A further object of my invention resides in the method of forming track shoes which will be adapted for quantity production at a low cost of manufacture. Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connectionwith the drawings, which form a part of the specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a series of shoes comprising part of an articulated track for 5 track laying tractors.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a finished track shoe.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of a finished track shoe. The dotted portion shows the shape of the shoe after it is removed from the blanking 1 die. a

Fig. dis a top plan view, partly broken away, of the blanking die.

Fig. 5 is a section of the blanking die taken on lines 5-5 of Fig. 4. 15 Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the trimming die. Fig. '7 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing a jig for punching the pin' holes in a shoe rail.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the forged shoe 20 after punching and trimming.

Fig. 9 is a. sectional view taken on lines 9-9 of Fi 8 of the track shoe in its blank form.

Fig. 10 is an end view of the roller and smoothing ram for forming and sizing the blank shoe 25 into the finished form and a fragmentary end view of the roller bearing. I

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on lines |I--I l of Fig. 10 of the roller and smoothing ram.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view through the'finished 30 shoe taken on line I2|2 in Fig. 2.

The preferred form of track shoe to which this invention relates is shown in finished form in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 12 and includes a flat ground or shoe plate I of rectangular outline and a pair'of spaced 35 upstanding rails 9 which extend longitudinally of the shoe plate. The rails comprise a web portion l0 which projects from the shoe plate and ter- Initiates in a head portion. Bosses or projections 5 and 6 extend laterally from adjacent the ends of 40 the webs and are apertured to receive pivot means for connecting adjacent shoes together. The webs are also preferably formed with central apertures II to allow clearance of trash, mud and similar material laterally therethrough. The shoe so far 45 described is formed from a single blank of metal. Generally the plate I is flat and contacts with the ground surface over which it travels without injury to the surface, but in order to provide more traction on surfaces where injury is of no consequence I attach a grouter 3 to .the shoe plate by means of bolts 1 which extend through holes4 and are secured by nuts. In order to securely anchor the grouter, a transverse groove} is formed in the plate to receive one edge of the grouter. Pins 8 extend through the apertures in the overlapped ends of the webs of adjacent shoes to pivotally connect them together, and suitable securing means for the pins is employed.

In producing the track shoes of the type described, a blank of suitable metal is employed, such as is used for forging purposes. This blank is heated and placed over the lower die l2, Fig. 5

.laterally and angularly therefrom. The depres sions 5a and 6a in the dies l2 and 13 are in angular relation to the Web of the rails II] in order toavoid sticking of the dies to the metal blank in their hammering operations. The walls of the apertures H are also in angular relation to the web of the rails Ill. The dies in the form described therefore are provided with sufficient draw so that the blanked shoe may be easily removed from the die l2 or l3 as the operation may require, without distorting any of the parts thereof. Such blanked track shoe is now placed in the trimming or shearing dies [4 and I5, Fig. 6, which when operated will shear or trim away the flash left by the forming dies l2 and I3, and will also perforate the webs of the rails to form the apertures II. If desired, the track shoe may then be placed in a punching die I6, Fig. 7, where the pin holes may be punched or drilled through the bosses 5 and 6.

The track shoe is now ready to be formed into ..final shape, and in accomplishing this end, the

shoe is introduced into any suitable device such as jig l8, Fig. 10, wherein one of the rails is placed into the jig and held therein by a member I1, which rigidly holds the shoe in position. Roller l9, associated with the ram 20 is now brought into operation and caused to engage the concave surface of the ground engaging member I, and as the roller travels across this member I, it is preferably caused to be flattened out against the face of the jig I8 and at the same time causing the other rail of the shoe to be swung into the jig into substantially parallel relation with the rail held in the jig by the clamping member H. To insure that the rail which has been swung into the jig by the roller I9 is in alignment with the rail held by the clamping member 11, plungers 2| are forced against the rail to properly size it and insure of its being brought into the desired parallelism with respect to the confined rail. During this sizing operation, the ram 20 remains in engagement with the member I of the shoe, confining and holdingthe shoe against movement so that the sizing operation may be properly executed. In this shaping and sizing of the forged shoe blank, the roller l9 which is provided with an annular V-shaped projection 22 is adapted to coincide with the groove 2 formed in the member I during the forging operation to insure that the shoe is held in alignment during this forming operation, so that upon the completion of this op eration and the removal or releasing of the plunger 2| and clamping member 11. from the shoe, it may be removed from the jig. It will be understood that the'shoe blank is sufficiently heated during all of the above operations so that there will be no interference with thephysical properties of the metal. The track shoes thus formed and finished may be linked together as indicated in Fig. 1 to form an articulated track for track laying tractors and the grouters can also then be applied.

The equipment herein disclosed for-forming one-piece forged shoes for track laying tractors may be of different character and mechanism,

but this is one form of apparatus which may be employed in producing the forged shoe herein described, and it is therefore not the intent to limit this invention to any specific type of apparatus that might be utilized in producing the shoe, as there may be some variations in the contour and shape of some of the elements composing the shoe.

What I claim is:-- I

1. A method of making a track shoe for track laying tractors having integral base and upstand-' ing rail portions, the rail portions having extended and indented surfaces, comprising heating a metal blank, forging the heated blank to form the rail portions into substantially finished shape with extended and indented surfaces, and then forming the forging into a completed shoe.

2. A method of making a forged track shoe for track laying tractors and having integral base and rail portions and which is so irregular in contour and shape because of its projections such as bosses that it cannot be directly forged in one piece to its ultimate shape, which method comprises heat forging a blank into an intermediate shape in which the said portions are in substantially completed condition except that they are in such relative positions as to permit the forging operation, and subsequently, by bending, causing the said base and rail portions to assume their ultimate shape and relationship.

3. A method of making a forged track shoe for track laying tractors and having integral base and rail portions and which is so irregular in' Cil contour and shape because of its projections such as bosses that it cannot be directly forged in one piece to its ultimate shape, which method comprises heat forging the said base and rail portions including the projections into substantially completed condition except they are in such relative positions as to permit the forging operation, and subsequently causing the said portions to assume their ultimate relationship While maintaining the said base and rail portions in their substantially completed condition.

4. The method of making a one-piece forged channel shaped track shoe with protuberances and indented surfaces in the side portions of the channel portions of the shoe, which protuberances and indented surfaces would on account of their disposition prevent the direct forging of the shoe to final form, which method comprises heat forging a blank with the portions which are to be provided with protuberances and indented surfaces in proper disposition to be directly forged to form, and in thereafter bending the previously forbed blank to the desired channel shaped form.

5. The method ofmaking a channel shaped track shoe for track laying tractors as a unitary forging and providing projecting bosses and indented surfaces in said shoe, which indented surfaces and bosses on account of their disposition would prevent the final product from being directly forged into final shape, which method comprises heat forging a blank and by the forging operation forming the indented surfaces and projecting boss portions on said blank, and in thereafter bending the blank to the ultimate channel 'shape of the shoe.

6. A method of providing track belt shoes comprising the heating of a steel blank to a forging temperature, pressing the blank between dies to provide a forging having a central substantially U-shaped body with opposite outwardly extending flanges in right angled relation with the adjacent portions of the U-shaped body with which they are respectively connected, bending the U- shaped body into substantially a flattened condition to position the rails in substantial parallelism, and sizing and shaping the flattened body and rails into accurately gauged relation.

'7. The method of making a track shoe of the class described comprising a substantially flat base portion, integrally forged transversely extending relatively spaced rails insubstantial parallelism, which consists in drop forging the rails with a connecting substantially U-shaped body, and shaping the U-shaped body to a substantially flattened condition with the rails in accurately gauged and sized substantial parallelism.

'8. The method of preparing a forged steel track shoe which consists in drop forging out of a steel blank a pair of substantially flat oppositely ex- I tending side rails in substantially the same plane,

with an integrally connected arched body connected by'the forging operation with said side rails so that the latter are in substantially exact right angled relation with the adjacent connected parts of the body portion, and subsequently bending, sizing and shaping the body portion and side rails so that the body portion is flattened into a tread plate with the side rails in relative parallelism.

9. The method of providing track belt shoes comprising the heating of a steel blank to a forgtened condition to position the rails in substantial parallelism.

10. The method of making a track shoe of the class described comprising a substantially flat base portion and integrally forged relatively spaced rails in substantial parallelism, which consists in drop forging the rails with a connecting substantially U-shaped body, and shaping the U-' a shaped body to a substantially flattened condition,

11. The method of preparing a forged steel track shoe which consists in drop forging out of a steel blank a pair of substantially flat oppositely extending side rails, with an intermediate arched body connected by the forging operation with said side rails so that the latter are in substantially exact right-angled relation with the adjacent connected parts of the body portion, and subsequently bending the body portion and side rails so that the body portion is flattened into a tread plate with the side rails in relative parallelism.

1 JAMES G. HEASLET. 

